The situation was handled “very, very quickly,” said Lynn Norman-Teck, a spokeswoman for the Florida Charter School Alliance.

The sheriff’s office said there is an investigation into how the firearm ended up in the elementary school student’s backpack. It was not immediately known whether anyone will face charges in the incident.

The elementary charter school, with ties to Miami rapper Pitbull and a large charter management company, opened in 2016 on the campus north of Palm Springs, Florida, and west of West Palm Beach, Florida. The school shares a building with its sister middle school, SLAM Palm Beach.

Here at Somerset Lakes/SLAM, the safety and welfare of our students is always our paramount concern. We will always inform you of any concerns affecting our school community.

This morning, before classes began, a teacher discovered there was a weapon in an early childhood student’s backpack. The student body and staff were never in any danger. Immediately upon discovering the gun, the classroom was secured, students were removed from the area, and authorities were notified. It is our understanding that the student did not intend to bring the weapon to school and had no knowledge that there was a weapon in the backpack.

A Palm Beach County Schools official is on-site. Police are conducting a full investigation. We wanted to inform you of the incident as soon as law enforcement cleared us to do so and re-assure you again that no student was ever in any danger. We will continue to keep you informed as we have updates. For further information, please feel free to contact me at (561) 641-4449.